Sixers 87, Bobcats 76

The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchange•February 10, 2013

PHILADELPHIA -- Jrue Holiday scored 20 points and Lavoy Allen grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds Saturday night as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 87-76. Spencer Hawes added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Sixers (22-27), who won for the fourth time in five games. Evan Turner had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Allen scored 14. Ramon Sessions had 20 points to lead Charlotte, which in dropping its seventh straight game saw its record, already the worst in the NBA, fall to 11-39. The Sixers extended a one-point halftime lead to 63-54 after three quarters as Holiday, Allen and Jeremy Pargo -- playing his first game with the Sixers after signing a 10-day contract Thursday -- each scored six points in the third quarter. They extended their advantage to 67-54 early in the fourth quarter, only to see the Bobcats outscore them 16-8 in the next 5:24 to cut the gap to 75-70 with 5:31 to play. Sessions had seven points in that flurry. The gap was still five, at 77-72, with 3:14 left, but Holiday keyed a clinching 8-2 run by scoring four points and assisting on baskets by Hawes and Allen. Pargo finished with 12 points. Byron Mullens had 16 points for Charlotte and Gerald Henderon scored 13. The Sixers led 38-37 at halftime despite shooting 37 percent from the floor. Hawes scored 11 points in the first half for the Sixers, who limited Charlotte to 31.1 percent shooting from the field. Sessions led Charlotte with nine points in the first half. NOTES: Sixers coach Doug Collins said his team is still adjusting to life without forward Thaddeus Young, who missed his second straight game with a hamstring pull and is expected to be out at least five more games. Collins called Young "the glue of our team" and added, "Any little change we make affects our team. It knocks us out of sync. Our team is like that." Asked why, Collins said, "Just personality." ... The Bobcats, who coughed up a 20-point third-quarter lead in losing at home to the Lakers on Friday night, began Saturday's game with 33 losses in their previous 37 games. "I know what losing does, how it can beat you down," Collins said. "This team, their spirit has remained strong." ... Charlotte's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist began the night sixth among NBA rookies in scoring (9.5) and fourth in rebounding (6.0).